首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
外语
Small and medium-sized businesses have had a hard time over the last few years. In the UK, thousands of businesses have gone ban
Small and medium-sized businesses have had a hard time over the last few years. In the UK, thousands of businesses have gone ban
admin
2010-01-10
39
问题
Small and medium-sized businesses have had a hard time over the last few years. In the UK, thousands of businesses have gone bankrupt as result of declining markets, increased competition from abroad and rising overheads. However another factor which is common to many bankruptcies is the lack of cashflow caused by late payment of invoices.
In 1996 a survey by Thornton Hughes International discovered that more than a quarter of businesses in Europe have to wait more than 90 days to be paid and 8% of businesses are forced to wait more than 120 days. Late payers often say they settle their accounts late because of recession but there is evidence that many firms are using late payment as a method of improving their own cashflow. A survey shows that 36% of delays in payment are intentional. By delaying the settlement of their accounts businesses transfer their financial problems to other businesses. It is usually the smallest firms that suffer most from this kind of behavior.
There are now plans to do something about this problem. The European Commission (the governing body of the European Union) suggests there should be legal penalties for late payment. Late payers should be legally required to pay interest on the debt. To be effective, the interest rate would be high. Finally, a system of fins (to be paid in addition to the interest payments) should be introduced. A recent survey in the UK revealed that 35% of transactions are carried out without any contract at all. It was therefore unclear when payments were due. In Denmark even though the problem is smaller, the authorities have decided to deal with it by automatically applying a legal payment period when there is no written contract. This ensures that payment is fixed at 30 days after the creditor has requested payment.
Many of the cash problems of small and medium-sized companies are, in fact, caused by national and local government agencies settling their accounts late. The European Commission has proposed that this area should be looked at. They point out that in some countries, for example the USA, interest on arrears is already paid automatically by public authorities. In France cities publish dates of their payments to contractors to show how quickly they settle their debts.
The European Commission suggests several other ways of dealing with the problem of late payment. Firstly, they suggest offering courses for small businesses. These courses would include legal advice on drafting contracts and on methods of obtaining payment for outstanding debts. Secondly, they would offer workshops to the public officials who are responsible for dealing with contracts. Thirdly, they suggest national campaign to persuade large organizations not to take advantage of their greater financial strength and size when they are dealing with smaller businesses. Part of the publicity would be the message that if we work together to make payment periods shorter we can help not only the financial health of small and medium-sized businesses, but also that of the economy as a whole.
What’s the meaning of "arrear" in line 4, Para 4?
选项
A、Payment.
B、Debt.
C、Creditor.
D、Loan.
答案
B
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/FTKd777K
本试题收录于:
BEC高级阅读题库BEC商务英语分类
0
BEC高级阅读
BEC商务英语
相关试题推荐
Whathashappenedtothecompany’ssalessincelastyear?
Howdosomeofthemanagersprobablyfeelrightnow?
Whatkindofpeopleareattendingtheseminar?
A、 B、 C、 D、 AThepeoplearelookingatpaintingsinanartgallery.Choice(B)usestheassociatedwordsp
A、 B、 C、 B(A)疑问词引导的疑问句不可以用yes/no来回答,并且,重复使用president一词,易造成混淆。(B)针对询问谁会当选副总裁的提问,做出了应该静候结果的回答,故为正确答案。(C)重复使用pres
A、 B、 C、 A(A)对于提议表示感谢,所以正确。(B)用plane与题干中的airport相呼应,混淆视听。(C)这是对于位置的回答,所以错误。
WhyisthestoreimplementinganewpolicyinSeptember?
TaskSheet:InitialPublicOffering(IPO):YourcompanyplanstohaveitsIPOintheShanghaiStockMarket。Youhavebeen
TaskOne-Typeofbusiness•Forquestions13-17,matchtheextractswiththetypesofbusinessesdescribed,listedA-H.•For
TaskOne-TypesofBusinesses•ForQuestions13-17,matchtheextractswiththetypesofbusinessesdescribed,listedA-H.
随机试题
蒸压加气混凝土砌块,其产品龄期为()d。
关于出版活动中的“编辑工作”,说法错误的是()。
建国初期从根本上稳定物价,争取国家财政经济状况基本好转的重大措施是()
咳嗽反射中枢位于
以下关于上市开放式基金(LOF)的表述中,错误的是()。
商业银行对集团客户授信应遵循的原则包括()。
采用成本法核算的长期股权投资,在持有期间所取得的现金股利,应全部计入投资收益。()
2008年1-6月,城镇居民8类人均消费性支出占人均消费性总支出的比重超过10%的有:已知2007年1-6月,城镇居民用于“娱乐教育文化”的人均消费性支出为927元,则上表中“x”的值约为:
设矩阵(1)已知A的一个特征值为3,试求y;(2)求矩阵P,使(AP)T(AP)为对角矩阵.
Today,theworldwidewebcanbeusedbothtosearchinformationandtomakeit【C1】______toothers.Information【C2】______onwebp
最新回复
(
0
)